Mobile & Cloud Development

I am an app developer based in the Garden Route of South Africa. I develop mostly mobile apps, cloud back-ends and the API glue in-between, although I have been known to get data out of pretty much any device with an ethernet or serial port.

Responsive Design within DataTill

Mobile app development is not simply taking a website and squeezing it into a small window. It is about extracting the essence of a business need and distilling it into the form factor available.Making apps work offline seamlessly requires a robust syncing method that makes sure data is synchronised when a connection is available, even when the app is not active.

Getting apps to ‘just look right’ across multiple screen sizes is harder than it looks, and takes countless tries across many many devices.

In the app world less is more, but less definitely takes a lot more!

Below is a summary of some of the most recent projects I have undertaken. All these projects were developed and implemented entirely by myself.

DataTill is a complete bandwidth & voice over ip data management tool for ISP’s. The system consists of a server based unit written in Perl & PHP, a web app developed in jQuery, AJAX & PHP and a mobile app being developed for iOS, Android, Tizen & HTML5.

The server side component interacts heavily with freeradius, radiusmananger and asterisk, via a combination of Perl, PHP and MySQL integration. Data is collected from these external services and services changes are performed directly into these systems from the web and mobile apps.

End user bandwidth control from within the app includes the ability to monitor and control individual team member’s activity, as well as define creative packages and restrictions. This is a first at several levels.

The mobile app is being done for Apple, Android, HTML5 & Tizen. The cloud backend was done in AJAX, jQuery & PHP on CodeIgniter, and hosted on a Hetzner server.

This mobile app allows the user to view his data and phone usage. Users can view historical data, request data topups and request data package changes. Users can also view and listen to their own call records.

Internet usage data are pulled in real-time from radiusmanager, squid and conntrack, and real-time phone data and voice recordings are pulled from asterisk.

The cloud backend allows users to perform all the same functions as the mobile app, and also contains an entire admin backend allowing the Cloud Connect staff to manage all elements of the business from within the app. A dashboard shows various admin statistics over time.

Two way messaging between the system and customers are done via automated two-way SMS, in-app messaging and automated emails. Usage notification triggers are user definable in both the app and on the self-service portal.

The mobile app was done for Apple, Android & Tizen, and the cloud backend was done in PHP on CodeIgniter, and hosted on an in-house linux server.

This mobile app allows the user to record cycling routes, and share these with friends in real time. The app lets the user view cycle history, explore nearby routes and see their’s friends cycling activity in real time. A panic feature allows the user to notify friends of their current location via SMS & email.The app works in an online / offline mode, and synchronises data via a complex mobile API when a connection is available.

The cloud back end allows users to explore rides, compare various rides and view their own cycling statistics over time. Multiple rides can be compared side to side, giving new insight into user performance.

The mobile app was done for both Apple and Android, and the cloud backend was done in PHP on CodeIgniter, and hosted at Amazon Web Services Cloud.

This mobile app allows users to create a wedding in the app, then share it with other users. Each page of the app can be styled differently by the use of custom designed themes. Once the wedding is complete the user can share it via Facebook or Email.

The app works in an online / offline mode, and synchronises new wedding & theme changes when a connection is available. Synchronisation is optimised to ensure only changed data are uploaded / downloaded, and all artwork is cached inside the app until updated on the server.

The cloud backend allows users to view the various weddings, and looks similar to the mobile app in that all weddings are individually styled. The back end also allows the administrators to define new themes. The theme editor contains hundreds of individual settings, that allows the designers to create vastly differentiating wedding themes.

The mobile app was done for both Apple and Android, and the cloud backend was done in PHP on CodeIgniter, and hosted at Amazon Web Services Cloud.

This tablet based mobile app allows its users to record RDP housing surveys, via customisable forms. The app lets the user store GPS position data, property details, take photographs of the property and verifies the capture via on screen signature. The app works in an online / offline mode, and synchronises captured data when a connection is available.

The capture form displayed on the device is dynamically defined on the server, and adjusts on demand. Multiple form definitions are synchronised on app launch.

The cloud backend allows the site administrators to generate numerous reports, quality control the user captures, etc. Form definitions, user permissions, site locations and other configuration options are also managed in the back-end.

The mobile app was done for both Apple and Android, and the cloud backend was done in PHP on CodeIgniter, and hosted on a dedicated Ubuntu server at Hetzner.

Contact me if you would like to consider me for your next mobile app or cloud development project.

About Me

Welcome to my corner of the world where I get a chance to speak my mind on various topics, mostly tech related.

I am the co-founder of Cloud Connect, a Garden Route based wireless ISP, and founder of Datatill, an ISP billing and management platform

My daytime job is being CIO of Hero Telecoms. This involves coding, application architecture design, and lots of other interesting stuff like R&D.
I am involved in various business and technology initiatives within the region, started the Garden Route ICT Incubator and am past President of the GeorgeChamber of Business and George Tourism Association.